[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 119 (Thursday, September 19, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1615]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1615]]
   RECOGNITION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES LAW CENTER'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 19, 2002

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge and 
pay tribute to the Natural Resources Law Center, a legal and policy 
research organization housed at the Unviersity of Colorado's School of 
Law. The Center is celebrating its 20th anniversary of providing path-
breaking, scholarly and practical input and analysis on the use, 
development and protection of our natural resources and environment.
  The Center is widely recognized as one of the region's preeminent 
sources of research and educational programs on water and public lands 
issues, assisting managers, policy makers and other westerners 
committed to sustainable and balanced natural resource laws and 
practices. This mission has been the central thread in two decades of 
activity equally notable for its attention to emerging issues as its 
diligence in addressing long-standing areas of conflict and concern. 
The Center remains committed to informing and influencing natural 
resource decisions, recognizing that the quality of life so cherished 
by westerners is inextricably tied to our treatment of natural 
resources.
  Center projects take a variety of forms. Perhaps best known are the 
Center's events, particularly the western water conferences held each 
June. These conferences consistently focus the nation's best minds on a 
variety of pressing and timely concerns, including endangered species 
management, groundwater depletion and pollution, operation of dams, 
water reallocation, transboundary disputes, and water conservation. 
Water resources have also been a prominent focus of Center 
publications, including pioneering work on instream flows, water 
markets, legal and administrative reform, and watershed partnerships.
  Over time, a public lands program addressing issues as diverse as 
forest planning, wilderness preservation, and federal/state conflicts 
has balanced this traditional focus on water issues. The result is an 
organization intimately familiar with the many interconnections and 
dependencies found in natural resource systems and possessing expertise 
not limited to the physical environment, but equally relevant to the 
institutional landscape of laws, policies, administrative arrangements, 
and management practices.
  By focusing on institutional arrangements, rather than merely laws 
and legal precedents, Center projects define natural resource problems 
and solutions broadly, revealing opportunities for innovation that 
would otherwise be buried by narrow thinking and the perception of 
hopeless gridlock. Center projects consistently show the natural 
resource problems of the West to be formidable, but nonetheless 
solvable. It is the immense value of this contribution, more so than 
the mere passage of twenty years, that they and I are celebrating 
today.
  Looking forward, the natural resources of the West face several new 
challenges. Most central is the continued population growth that, over 
the life of the Center, has already made the West the most rapidly 
growing region of the country. With roughly 1 million new westerners 
expected every year over the next two decades, the stress on limited 
water resources is just one of several concerns. Other emerging issues 
derive from the region's renewed emphasis on energy production, the 
explosive growth in outdoor recreation pressures, the twin concerns of 
ongoing drought and long-term climate change, and wildfires. As is its 
tradition, the Center is already active on each of these issues, having 
produced reports, hosted conferences, and most importantly, having 
already informed and influenced decision makers struggling to keep up 
with the pace of change.
  The strength of the organization continues to be its staff, advisory 
board, and its impressive international network of collaborators, 
funders, and friends. The Center has been particularly blessed by a 
string of talented directors--Larry MacDonnell, Betsy Rieke, Gary 
Bryner, and currently, Jim Martin--and by the longstanding 
participation of prominent University of Colorado scholars including 
David Getches, Charles Wilkinson, and Jim Corbridge. Equally essential 
has been the research and writings of the professional staff, 
particularly Michael Gheleta, Doug Kenney, Ann Morgan, Kathryn Mutz, 
Teresa Rice, and Sarah (Bates) Van de Wetering, and the contributions 
of visiting fellows.
  Supported by a small but talented cast of administrative support 
personnel and by an ever-changing assemblage of law students, the 
Center has been able to leverage its modest staff and budget into a 
powerful voice showing the way to environmental, economic and social 
sustainability through the improved management of natural resources. 
This is an important and honorable service worthy of our recognition 
and gratitude.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating the Natural 
Resources Law Center for its twenty years of accomplishments and 
contributions to issues throughout the West, and to welcoming its 
continued contributions for many years to come.

                          ____________________